VCU news

Jack Martin Brandt, disability policy specialist for the Partnership for People with Disabilities in the VCU School of Education

Brandt has been appointed chair of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.

In 2010, Brandt was first appointed to the committee, which serves as a federal advisory committee to the president of the United States and the secretary of health and human services on matters relating to people with intellectual disabilities. The committee upholds the right of all people with intellectual disabilities to pursue a quality of life that promotes independence, self-determination and economic self-sufficiency.

Prior to joining VCU, Brandt was a disability rights advocate at the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy from 2008 to 2010, and a disability policy consultant for the State of Virginia from 2006 to 2008. He was a Governor’s Fellow at Virginia’s Office of Community Integration for People with Disabilities in 2006. He has served on the Virginia Community Integration Advisory Commission since 2011 and served on the Virginia Statewide Independent Living Council from 2006 to 2012.

He received an undergraduate degree from James Madison University and a master’s degree from VCU.

Brian Baird, Pharm.D., associate professor, School of Pharmacy

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists will name Baird a fellow of the ASHP at its Summer Meetings and Exhibition in Baltimore on June 14. The designation recognizes excellence achieved in the practice of pharmacy. Baird is a drug information pharmacist with VCU Health.

Members who have achieved fellow of ASHP status have successfully demonstrated sustained commitment or contributions to excellence in practice for at least 10 years, contributed to the total body of knowledge in the field, demonstrated active involvement and leadership in ASHP, and have been actively involved in and committed to educating practitioners and others.

Hannah Lee, M.D., VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center

The VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center welcomes Lee as a transplant hepatologist and co-director of its liver tumor program.

Before coming to VCU Health, Lee was assistant professor of medicine at Tufts Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. There, she was also director of the hepatology program, director of the Asian Pacific Liver Health Clinic and co-director of the multidisciplinary liver tumor clinic.

“It is an honor to join a team with renowned hepatologists who are leaders in our field and to be a part of a hepatology program that has a longstanding history in patient care and cutting-edge research,” Lee said. “I am excited to be a part of a transplant program that has a legacy rooted deeply in transplant history and a transplant team that continues to build from that legacy, with a vision to expand our program and clinical services and resources throughout the commonwealth.”

Lee will serve patients who have end-stage liver disease and need a liver transplant, which involves both pre- and post-liver transplant care. Additionally, she will see patients with general hepatology problems, which can range from viral hepatitis to autoimmune conditions and fatty liver disease.

Lee received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and completed her internal medicine residency and gastroenterology /hepatology fellowship at Tufts Medical Center/ Tufts University School of Medicine.

Timmerie Cohen, Ph.D., clinical coordinator for radiation therapy; Melanie C. Dempsey, Ph.D., program director (radiation therapy) and assistant professor; and Jeffrey S. Legg, Ph.D., chair and associate professor, Department of Radiation Sciences in the School of Allied Health Professions

The American Society of Radiologic Technologists has named Cohen, Dempsey and Legg as recipients of the Radiation Therapist Distinguished Author Award in Honor of Harold Silverman, recognizing the best peer-reviewed articles published in ASRT’s scientific journals in 2015.

Cohen, Dempsey and Legg earned the award for their article, “The Effect of Vertical Off-Centering on Breast Dose During CT Simulation in Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation Planning,” which was published in the fall 2015 issue of Radiation Therapist.

“This award represents the efforts of the department faculty to raise the research profile in the profession,” Legg said. “In a field where a research focus and culture is still developing, VCU Radiation Sciences is recognized for its work. Doctors Cohen and Dempsey are beginning their research careers and have had significant success thus far; I only expect it to increase in the future.”

The ASRT will honor Cohen, Dempsey and Legg at its Honors Evening Event at the ASRT Annual Governance and House of Delegates Meeting in Las Vegas on June 24.